7 Fun Facts about Ireland

There's simply no way you've heard of these 7 fun facts...or have you?

By Editor

Published 15 October 2018

Fact 1: There’s time, and then there’s Irish time

Think time moves slower in Ireland? It once did. The Statutes (Definition of Time) Act 1880 defined Dublin Mean Time as the legal time in Ireland until 1916. This was set at Dunsink Observatory outside Dublin, and was 25 minutes 21 seconds behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

So when we say we like to take things at our own pace here in Ireland, we really mean it!

Fact 2: Saint Patrick and his Snakes

We all know the legend of Saint Patrick: slave-turned-saint sees God on Slemish Mountain in County Antrim and banishes the snakes from Ireland. Or did he?

According to scientists, it was the Ice Age and not divine intervention that rid the island of these cold-blooded serpents. The real likelihood is that snakes were symbolic of Patrick divesting Ireland of pagan rituals and beliefs.

Fact 3: The Vanishing Lake

Loughareema is definitely a rather peculiar lake. Located in the heather-strewn hummocks outside Ballycastle in County Antrim, tales of phantom carriages and the ghost of a restless colonel date back to 1898. But even stranger HAS to be how the lake vanishes and reappears on its own.

We think it's magic, but the deception is actually geological: a hidden plug-hole fills and drains with peat and rain water. Now you see it…

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